System and method for identifying galleries of media objects on a network

Abstract

Collections of media objects may be aggregated from network resources available over a network. An embodiment provides that a network resource is accessed at each of a plurality of network locations. The network resource is analyzed at each network location to determine whether the network resource includes, or provides access to, any or all media objects in a set of multiple media objects that collectively satisfy one or more editorial criteria for being deemed a gallery, as presented at the network location or network locations where the multiple media objects are provided. The information about the set of media objects may be stored.

1 . A computer-implemented method for aggregating collections of media objects from network resources available over a network, the method comprising performing programmatic steps of:
 accessing a network resource at each of a plurality of network locations;   analyzing the network resource at each network location to determine whether the network resource includes, or provides access to, any or all media objects in a set of multiple media objects that collectively satisfy, as presented at the network location or network locations where the multiple media objects are provided, one or more editorial criteria for being deemed components of a gallery; and   storing information about the set of media objects, including information to locate each of the media objects.   
   
   
       2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the network resource at each network location includes:
 detecting one or more media objects embedded on the network resource, the one or more media objects being embedded with a link, wherein the link corresponds to a data structure or programmatic element that is activatable by a browser component to open a corresponding network resource;   activating the link to access the corresponding network resource;   analyzing the corresponding network resource for a corresponding media object that is a copy, a version or a derivative, of at least a portion any of the one or more media objects that are embedded with the link.   
   
   
       3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the network resource at each network location includes:
 detecting multiple images that are embedded with the network resource, each of the multiple images being embedded with a corresponding link that is activatable to directly access a corresponding linked network resource of the corresponding link;   activating the corresponding link embedded with each of the multiple images to access the linked network resource of the corresponding link; and   analyzing each linked network resource for a corresponding image that is a copy, a version or a derivitive of any one of the multiple detected images.   
   
   
       4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein the method further comprises detecting one or more markers of each detected image, and wherein analyzing each linked network resource for the corresponding image includes inspecting the linked network resource for an image that includes the one or more markers. 
   
   
       5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more markers correspond to metadata associated with that image. 
   
   
       6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more markers correspond to an aspect ratio, a color trait, or a dimension. 
   
   
       7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein detecting the one or more markers of each detected image includes identifying an object recognized from the detected image as at least one of the one or more markers. 
   
   
       8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein detecting the one or more markers of each detected image includes identifying one or more of (i) a presence or positioning of text provided with the detected image, or (ii) a keyword of the text provided with the image. 
   
   
       9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein detecting multiple images includes detecting a set of thumbnails. 
   
   
       10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the network resource at each network location includes implementing analysis criteria that identifies the set of media objects as satisfying one or more editorial criteria for any of a plurality of different types of galleries. 
   
   
       11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the editorial criteria corresponds to one or more of (i) a position or layout characteristic of the media objects in the set that are included on the network resource, (ii) a position or layout characteristic of multiple links in the network resource that collectively provided access to some or all of the media objects in the set, or (iii) a position or layout characteristic of the media objects included in a linked network resource that is provided linked access from the network resource. 
   
   
       12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein analyzing the network resource at each network location includes determining that the set of media objects satisfy an editorial criteria in which individual media objects in the set are related to one another by a content theme. 
   
   
       13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the network resource at each network location includes detecting an image embedded within a programmatic segment of one or more of the network resources, and wherein the method further comprises extracting a network location that is identified within the script. 
   
   
       14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising programmatically acquiring information about the set of media objects about a subject of the set of media objects, and using the information to determine one or more categories for the set of media objects; and wherein storing the information about the set of media objects includes storing the one or more categories for the set of media objects. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein acquiring information includes acquiring information from a network site that includes the plurality of network locations for the set of media objects as internal network locations. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein acquiring information includes acquiring information from a network location that is external to a network site that includes the plurality of network locations for the set of media objects as internal network locations. 
   
   
       17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising programmatically analyzing (i) the media objects, or (ii) data associated or provided with the media objects, in order to determine one or more categories for the gallery, and wherein storing information includes storing data that identifies or corresponds to the one or more categories. 
   
   
       18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the network resource at each network location includes analyzing each of a cluster of network resources that are directly or indirectly lined to one another. 
   
   
       19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein storing information includes storing data for creating a version or rendition of at least some of the media objects in the set. 
   
   
       20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein storing information includes storing (i) data for creating a version or rendition of at least some of the media objects in the set; and (ii) one or more category identifiers for the set of media objects. 
   
   
       21 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the network resource at each network location includes programmatically determining, from data elements that are not links, one or more inferenced network resources that contain one or more of the media objects in the set. 
   
   
       22 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the network resource at each network location includes recognizing a gallery page that provides at least a portion of the gallery, the gallery page rendering a plurality of media objects that correspond to components of the gallery. 
   
   
       23 . A computer-implemented method for aggregating presentations of collections of media objects from network pages available over a network, the method comprising performing programmatic steps of:
 analyzing one or more pages to identify a plurality of media objects, the plurality of media objects being provided at one or more network locations; and   analyzing data, that is either contained in or associated with, individual media objects in the plurality of media objects in determining that at least one set of media objects satisfy one or more editorial criteria for being deemed components of a gallery when provided at the one or more network locations.   
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising:
 indexing gallery information for the gallery, including information that for enabling presentation of a rendition of at least a portion of the set of media objects in the gallery.   
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising presenting the rendition of at least the portion of the set of media objects in the gallery. 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising receiving a selection criteria, and wherein presenting the rendition of at least the portion of the set of media objects is performed in response to receiving the selection criteria. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the editorial criteria corresponds to one or more of (i) a positioning of the media objects in the set that are included on the network page, (ii) a positioning of multiple links in the network page that collectively provided access to some or all of the media objects in the set, or (iii) a positioning of the media objects included in a linked network page that is provided linked access from the network page. 
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the editorial criteria corresponds to data, included or associated with individual media objects in any set that is deemed a given gallery, that relate the individual media objects of that set by a content theme. 
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising analyzing the data provided from one or more of the pages in determining one or more labels for association with at a given one of the identified galleries. 
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein analyzing the data provided from one or more of the pages includes identifying a key word that is provided on the page, or with any of the media objects of the given gallery, and designating the category or key word for association with the given gallery to correspond to or be based on the identified keyword. 
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein determining one or more labels includes detecting and analyzing one or more factors to estimate a relevance score for each of the one or more determined categories. 
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein detecting and analyzing one or more factors includes (i) detecting a candidate keyword in the page of at least one of the media objects that comprises the given gallery, (ii) determining whether the page is primarily image-based, and (iii) determining a relevance score of the candidate keyword based in part on whether or not the page is primarily image-based. 
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein analyzing the data provided from one or more of the pages in determining one or more labels for association with the given gallery includes detecting a comment section on the page, and analyzing the text of the comment section to identify at least one of the categories. 
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein analyzing the data provided from one or more of the pages in determining one or more labels for association with the given gallery includes detecting a title of one of the pages that contains a media object of the given gallery. 
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein analyzing the data includes identifying a gallery page that comprises at least a portion of a gallery, the gallery page including a plurality of media objects that are presented with contextual information. 
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein analyzing the data includes identifying a theme or subject of the gallery from the contextual information. 
   
   
       37 . A computer system for aggregating collections of media objects from network resources available over a network, the system comprising one or processors that execute programmatic instructions and operate with memory and other hardware resources to provide one or more modules that include:
 a crawler, executable to retrieve a plurality of network resources at a plurality of network locations;   a set of rules that establish when a collection of media objects are deemed a gallery;   a resource analyzer, executable to analyze the plurality of network resources, and to identify, from a given network resource or cluster of network resources, that a set of media objects forms a gallery, based on rules in the rule set; and   a data structure, the resource analyzer being coupled with the data structure to identify data to enable at least some of the media objects that form the identified gallery to be subsequently rendered together in one presentation.   
   
   
       38 . The computer system of  claim 37 , wherein the resource analyzer is executable to detect a marker that indicates a particular media object is a candidate member of a gallery with one or more other media objects in the given network resource or cluster of network resources. 
   
   
       39 . The computer system of  claim 38 , wherein in response to detected the marker, the resource analyzer executes to seek other media objects in either (i) the given network resource, or (ii) in the cluster of network resources that have a link relationship of either a parent, a sibling, a child, or a grandchild to the given network resource. 
   
   
       40 . The computer system of  claim 37 , further comprising a cache, provided for the resource analyzer, wherein the resource analyzer stores data from scanning or analyzing individual network pages in the cache. 
   
   
       41 . The computer system of  claim 38 , further comprising a cache, provided for the resource analyzer, wherein the resource analyzer stores data from scanning or analyzing individual network pages in the cache;
 wherein the resource analyzer is executable to detect a marker that indicates a particular media object is a candidate member of a gallery with one or more other media objects in the given network resource or cluster of network resources   wherein in response to detected the marker, the resource analyzer executes to seek other media objects in the cluster of network resources that have a link relationship of either a parent, a sibling, a child, or a grandchild to the given network resource; and   wherein the resource analyzer seeks the other media objects by inspecting or analyzing the other network resources in the cluster, and stores data that corresponds at least to a portion of detected media objects in each of the network resources of the page, in order to determine whether the particular media object and any of the stored media objects satisfy the rule sets that defines the gallery.   
   
   
       42 . The computer system of  claim 41 , wherein the resource analyzer executes to control a fetcher to retrieve individual network resources in the cluster. 
   
   
       43 . The computer system of  claim 41 , wherein the resource analyzer executes to compare individual media objects from any of the stored media objects to the particular media object.